Chapter Text
Annabeth slammed the door to her cabin, the sound echoing like a gunshot through the Argo II. She didn’t even make it across the room; she collapsed against the wood, sliding down until her knees hit the floor, her head tucked tightly between them.
What the actual hell just happened?
She’d gotten stabbed, chased by titans and giants, heck even went through the deepest darkest depths of Tartarus, but nothing could compare to pain she felt from his betrayal. She’d been abandoned before… multiple times. Her mortal family never understood her, Athena sent her on a death quest, Thalia joined the hunter and stopped visiting as often, and Luke… betrayed her and chose Kronos. But in all these events, the only constant which remained in her life was him. He was there for her when there was nobody else, he followed her to the depths of hell so that she wouldn’t have to suffer alone. She really thought he would be the one to stay till the very end. But now he left too— like Luke… the others, he left. Just how many more heartbreaks, betrayals, does she have to go through to realize that she is not fit for being loved.
She took out her camp necklace, strung with colorful clay beads for each year at camp half blood. There was something else too on the leather cord, a Coral pendant, he’d gifted it to her when they’d begun dating, He’d gotten it from his dad’s underwater palace. The pendant suddenly felt like a noose on her neck. Suffocating her until she dies of choking. With a strangled cry, she ripped the string, contents spilling across the floor, and threw the coral pendant across the room, it broke into small tiny pieces.
She looked around her room… everything in it reminded her of him. She had to get rid of everything. His hoodie was on her bed from last night. She threw it. She saw a vase on her desk. She didn’t even have a proper reason to want to throw it… it was just a nice antique vase she got from a thrift store back in Virginia. But the color annoyed her, It was blue. Blue. He liked blue. She threw the vase against the door. The sound ringing across the Argo ll.
The betrayal she felt turned into rage. She surged toward the shelf above her bed, her hands trembling as she grabbed the picture frames. One from their first quest, their faces young and soot-streaked. One from her fourteenth birthday, when he’d snuck into her boarding school to surprise her with a grin that could light up the entire world. One from their first months of dating, where he looked at her like she was the only person in the room.
She didn't just put them down; she hurled them.
One by one.
Her room looked like it went through a tornado with all the small shards of glass shattered on the floor. But oh boy she wasn’t done yet. She took out a box from under her bed… it was a box full of letters which she and Percy exchanged back when they didn’t have cell phones.
letters where they wrote about school, camp, or just anything. Annabeth remembered going through her father’s laptop to find the perfect picture of her from their trip to the Lincoln memorial to send Percy. She ripped the letter.
She found another letter, of Percy inviting her to celebrate Christmas with the Jackson’s for the first time. She remembered iris messaging Silena Beauregard to help her pick out an outfit. She ripped the letter too.
She ripped all of their shared letters into shreds.
By the time she was done her room was filled with shreds of torn paper, shards of broken glass, a broken pendant somewhere in the pile, and all the gifts Percy had ever given her.
Her anger had subdued by tearing apart her room and now the reality of the site hit her like a boulder. Percy was never going to come back to her. In fact, he was now working with the enemy, which meant she had to kill him. She clutched her chest and just sobbed her heart out.
”Piper, I think you should check up on her.” Piper jolted upon hearing her Boyfriend, Jason’s voice. “We’ve been hearing her scream and break stuff for hours at this point.”
”Yeah, I should check if she’s doing alright.” She paused. “Who am I kidding, nobody is doing well after what just happened… especially not her.”
Jason kissed her forehead. “She might not say it, but I’m pretty sure she needs someone right now. I’ll be waiting by the deck.”
Piper entered her room and was shocked… this was worse than she’d anticipated. She saw her best friend on the floor hugging herself and sobbing. Her room was thrashed with paper and glass shards. Annabeth’s eyes were rimmed red, glass shards stuck to her knees and thighs and the cut on her cheek looked angry.
"Annabeth... oh gods"
"PIPER GO AWAY!!" she screamed.
"No" she said and engulfed her bestfriend in a hug. Annabeth protested at first but then again broke down sobbing. "Everyone I love leaves" she says in between sobs "Am I that hard to love?"
The last question broke Piper's heart... it broke her that Annabeth thought that she was hard to love... she loved her, everyone aboard the argo two loved her and even Percy, even who he betrayed all of them, Piper being a daughter of aphrodite knew that what ever Percy and Annabeth had going on was nothing but pure love.
She couldn't see her like this anymore and decided to take matters into her own hands. She charmspeaked Annabeth to go wash up while she tidied up her room.
Piper found a broom and started to sweep the floor. She took the torn pieces of letters and pictures and safely stored them in a box. She being a daughter of the love goddess knew better than anything love was something which could be switched off on command.
Annabeth emerged from the bathroom, her hair was in a towel and she looked confused. "You charmspoke to me, didn"t you?"
"Look Annabeth, I'm sorry but you needed it."
"Thank you... piper, I-I mean it."
"You should try sleeping... you've had a long day." Piper suggested.
"I can't."
Piper understood better than anyone. "still you should try, we have a long day ahead tomorrow." She sat on her bed and patted it gesturing her to come. "I'll be here in case you get nightmares."
"Okay"
Annabeth layed down next to Piper, while she stroked her hair and sung cherokee lullabies, each word with hints of charmspeak in it to calm her.
"Piper." Annabeth said "is it possible to hate someone so much that you want to kill him the next time you see him but you also love him so much that you fear that you would forgive him for everything he's done."
"Yes, Annabeth it's possible... but don't think much about today. Just sleep" her last words were heavy with charmspeak that Annabeth did end up falling asleep.